"My father always said that records were meant to be broken," Unitas' son, Joe, wrote in a letter to Brees earlier this month. Joe Unitas was at the Superdome to watch his father's record pass into the shadows.

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Brees and Unitas share similarities. Both were let go by the teams that drafted them (Unitas by the Pittsburgh Steelers; Brees by the Chargers), and we can only imagine that Brees drew some delight out of setting the mark against his former squad. When Unitas died in 2002, Brees was just beginning his run as a starter with San Diego.

Nobody knew back then what would come of Brees' career, but he now belongs to the city of New Orleans, whose denizens -- especially Sunday night -- wouldn't dream of letting him go.